G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by swax on Monday January 04, 2016 @01:35PM (#10837446)

Aren't Uber and Lyft middle-men? Why wouldn't car companies themselves offer a subscription service for access to their cars? You don't pay more to own a BMW, but you do pay more for a BMW subscription over a Honda one. Uber would probably be a cheaper subscription service for 'used' autonomous cars.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by sanderjd on Monday January 04, 2016 @01:56PM (#10837621)

Because of specialization. Manufacturing cars is a different core competency than running fleets.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by toomuchtodo on Monday January 04, 2016 @05:06PM (#10839075)

Except Tesla is trying to do both (build the cars first, then do the ridesharing).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by ultimatefan1 on Monday January 04, 2016 @02:07PM (#10837707)

I see it as GM (or whoever) makes the car. Lyft (or uber, google, whoever) makes the software to call up the car, which includes a huge amount of data analysis for routing, so they are more than just a middle man. Also, GM just became a major investor and board member in Lyft, so both parties are clearly interested in partnering: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-lyft-gm-...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by jckr on Monday January 04, 2016 @01:55PM (#10837613)

yeah, but good luck for developing that middle-layer from scratch.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by CaptSpify on Monday January 04, 2016 @04:22PM (#10838741)

Especially from big car companies. They aren't exactly known for.... smooth software innovations.

[ Parent | on HN ]